Later, Shinji and Meta Knight were sitting next to each other on a log, at the edge of the woods.
"So, you're saying you're not really Kirby?" the masked knight asked him.
"No, my name's Shinji," the former Eva pilot told him. "And I don't know how I got to this place... or why I look like this."
Meta Knight rubbed his chin. "If what you're telling me is true..."
"It is true!" Shinji pouted.
"Then we have two possibilities here. Possibility one: Kirby is gone and someone else turned you into a facsimile of him, possibly to replace him. Possibility two: Your spirit has somehow possessed Kirby. You must realize that if case two turns out to be true, I will do anything in my power to get you out of Kirby's body."
"I understand..." Shinji sighed. "But... who is this 'Kirby' person anyways? And where are we?"
"Seems like you are an alien, on top of everything..." Meta Knight murmured. "Very well, I am normally not too fond of giving freebies to newbies, but since you've replaced our most renowned hero, you leave me no choice. Now listen up carefully, you are on the planet Pop Star."
"Pop Star..." Shinji murmured.
"That's right," Meta Knight nodded. "And Kirby is the one who has always protected our planet from harm. May it be invaders from another galaxy or a different dimension, or may it be that oaf Dedede... no opponent has been able to best Kirby, up to now. And as long as we don't know what happened to Kirby, I expect you to do his job."
"Why is it that no matter where I am, people are depending on me?" Shinji groaned. "Either it's fighting angels in an Eva's cockpit, or being a faraway planet's pink, cuddly hero..."
Meta Knight looked at him with fascination. "You have to tell me your true origin sometime," he then said. "But not now. Very well, first things first! Let us see if you possess the same abilities Kirby does..." He looked around, until he pointed at a round, pink creature that was floating through the air with a pair of tiny wings. "See that Bronto Burt over there?"
"What's a Bronto Burt?" Shinji murmured.
"One of the creatures left behind by the Nightmares, when they tried to take over Dreamland..." Meta Knight grumbled. "They are not very formidable, but can be a pest when appearing in groups. This one is all by himself, though, so you shouldn't have a problem with him. Now, I want you to go there and swallow that guy!"
"SWALLOW?" Shinji almost screeched. "Are you n-nuts? I can't just... I can't just eat that thing like that! What am I, a cannibal?"
"Just do it!" Meta Knight ordered. "It's not really a living habitant of Dream Land, so you don't have to feel bad. Just inhale it and swallow it whole!"
Shinji sweatdropped. Whole? That guy was crazy. The Bronto Burt was at least as big as Shinji himself, how could he possibly swallow him whole?
"Just inhale!" Meta Knight shouted. He was getting very impatient.
Shinji shrugged. "Okay, okay... whatever..." Inhaling, no big deal. That crazy guy would see that it would do nothing...
So Shinji nervously walked over to where the Bronto Burt was circling. He gulped when the pink creature noticed him. The Bronto Burt stared at him with angry eyes.
"Well... here goes..." Shinji murmured, opened his mouth... and inhaled.
SWOOOOOOOOPP! Like a colossal vacuum cleaner, the Bronto Burt got sucked inside Shinji's new, massive mouth. All of his pink, puffy body swelled up now that the Bronto Burt was stuck inside.
'I really did it?' Shinji wondered. 'How... how is that possible?' He looked down at his bloated body. 'This Kirby must have a stomach made of rubber or something like that...'
"Excellent work!" Meta Knight said, a hint of relief in his voice. "Now, swallow him!"
'Well, he DID tell me that these guys aren't really normal inhabitants of this planet... so this might not be too different from destroying an Angel.' And so, Shinji swallowed the Bronto Burt with one mighty gulp... and it was gone.
Meta Knight walked over to him. "Nicely done, Shinji!"
Shinji patted his round, but no longer bloated stomach in disbelief. "Where... where did it go?" he murmured. "It's like it just... vanished!"
"I can't really say for sure," Meta Knight shrugged. "I'm not sure if even Kirby could tell you what happens to the enemies he swallows... but as long as they're gone, I wouldn't worry about it. Okay, now that we've covered swallowing an enemy... we now shall train spitting them out. That's Kirby's secondary way of attacking."
"Spitting... them out?" Shinji wondered.
"Indeed," the knight nodded. "He inhales them, turns them into star energy within his body and spits them at another close foe."
Shinji sweatdropped. What crazy world was this?
'I have the feeling this is gonna be a looong day...' he thought. 'I wonder if the others already miss me...'
"WHAT?" Commander Gendo Ikari shouted. "What do you mean, all of the Eva pilots are missing?"
"I'm sorry, Commander!" Misato shrugged. "I can't understand it myself. Last evening, they both went to bed, and when I looked for them this morning... poof! They were gone!"
"No time for jokes, Major Katsuragi!" Ikari grumbled. "This is a crisis! If an Angel attacks, what do we do then? We need to find them as soon as possible! Try contacting their friends from school. And if they don't know anything, search through the whole town!"
"Yes, sir!" Misato saluted.
"Wow..." Aoba whispered to Hyuga. "The commander has never been this worried about his son before."
"I can't shake the feeling that he's worrying more about someone else..." Hyuga sighed. "Say, where's Maya, by the way? I haven't seen her today."
Aoba shrugged. "Me neither. Women... who knows what they're up to?"
Meanwhile, Gendo had approached Ritsuko Akagi, NERV's head scientist.
"Go down into the clone lab and prepare you-know-what, just in case she doesn't return," he whispered.
"But Commander..." Ritsuko whispered back. "She's just missing, not dead... do you really think it's justified to be THIS worried?"
"I will take no chances," Gendo grumbled. "Do as you're told, doctor!"
"Yes, sir..." she muttered reluctantly.
As she entered the elevator, everything was pitch black. The scientist frowned. "This is unusual..." she murmured. "There's no power blackout... I should inform the technicians about this."
She turned around, but then, the door shut itself in front of her, trapping her in the darkness.
"HEY!" she shouted and pounded against the door. "Is this some sort of joke? Get me out of here!"
And suddenly, she wasn't able to feel anything. She couldn't move, couldn't hear, couldn't see anything. It was just like she was drifting through an endless void.
She was unable to count the seemingly endless minutes she spent in the darkness, but she was hoping that somehow, somebody would find her. She wasn't too sure what happened to her, but if an Angel attack was the cause, there was still a chance that she could be saved.
And then... she saw light! Just in front of her! She reached out to touch it and...
"Squirtle!"
Ritsuko blinked. Did she just say that?
"This is so awesome!" a familiar voice squealed behind her. "Thank you sooo much, Professor Oak... I'm gonna be the best Pokémon trainer EVER!"
Ritsuko turned around and looked at Maya Ibuki. The young computer technician was looking much younger, though, at least 10 years younger. She was nothing more than a pre-teen, and she was wearing clothes that a child that age would wear: A light blue shirt, a red skirt and a white hat with a brim.
Maya grinned. "This is sooo cool," she murmured to herself. "A Pokédex, a Squirtle... I even have the same outfit the female trainer from the Fire Red Edition wears!"
Ritsuko wanted to ask: 'What the heck is going on here?', but all that left her mouth was: "Squirtle! Squirtle!"
Maya knelt down next to her. Suddenly, Ritsuko noticed how big everything around her was, including Maya herself. Had she... shrunk?
"Aww, you're just the cutest little Squirtle!" Maya smiled as she petted Ritsuko's head. "Thanks again, Professor! Say, is this a boy or a girl?"
Now Ritsuko was furious. 'What's that girl talking about? Can't she see who I am? Of course I'm a woman!'
"This is a female, Maya!" the elderly man in the lab coat next to them said with a smile. "And you are quite welcome! I am always willing to help youngsters that are dreaming to become a Pokémon Trainer. But never forget, they are your friends, not just a tool to win battles!"
"I'll keep that in mind, professor!" Maya smiled. "Hi there, girl! We're gonna be the best team Kanto ever saw, right? Oh, I've got a nice name for you! Since you're a girl, I'm gonna call you Ritsu-chan! How does that sound?"
Ritsuko was ready to give that girl a piece of her mind. "SQUIRTLE! SQUIR SQUIRTLE!"
Maya was taken aback. "I don't think she likes me very much, Professor Oak..."
"Give her some time," the professor said. "Some Pokémon need some time to get used to their new trainers. Just introduce her to your Pikachu and maybe she'll realize that you only want to be her friend."
"Hey, great idea! Misa-chan, come over here!"
"Pika!" A yellow rodent with red cheeks and a jagged tail came running over to them. Ritsuko was surprised when she noticed that the animal was as tall as she was.
"Squirtle?" 'What the heck is that thing?'
"Pika! Pi, Pikachu!" The mouse Pokémon crossed its arms. 'Well, nice to see you too, Ritsuko!'
Ritsuko nearly swooned when she realized she was able to understand the weird noises the Pikachu was making. "SQUIRTLE?" 'MISATO?'
Maya smiled. "See? They're already becoming friends!"
'I don't know what happened or how I got here,' the young, new Pokémon Trainer thought to herself. 'But I'm LOVING it!'
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(Posted Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:24)
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